MEASURES to cut the rising seagull menace in Birmingham city centre by replacing their eggs with fakes are unlikely to succeed, councillors have been told.

A pilot scheme to stop the birds breeding on the rooftops of the Jewellery Quarter saw 35 eggs replaced with sand-filled replicas in a bid to prevent gulls hatching chicks in the spring and summer.

But environmental health officer Mark Croxford admitted controlling the city’s rising herring gull population was too tall an order for the council’s pest control team.

Officers were asked to look at the issue following increasing complaints that the squawking shattered the peace and bird mess was ruining buildings.

There were also fears over “mobbing” – where large numbers of birds attack people with food or those passing near nests.

Pest controllers had ruled out shooting the birds in an urban area, while a trapping system was also rejected because in tests the first birds caught warned others away.

So the fake egg method was adopted.

But the council officers found that some nests were inaccessible and, in many cases, building owners refused to allow them onto rooftops because either they did not see the gulls as a problem or did not want to risk damage.

Mr Croxford said: “This was one summer and the gulls have a 25 to 30-year life-span through which they can breed.

“One year is not going to make a big difference.

“We could also get to nests on flat roofs and multi-storey car parks, but pitched roofs, where they nest behind chimneys, were a problem.”

Mr Croxford said officers counted 40 nests on the roof of the Wholesale Markets in Digbeth.

Council public protection committee member Mick Finnegan (Lab, Stockland Green) said: “People in the Jewellery Quarter view these as pests.